I'm sure that if we got to know each other we would find we have a lot in common. We might even be friends.
Sure, your kids are older than mine. But you might be my age. Or maybe just a little older. Or maybe even younger. Who knows!
I'm sure you would understand what it's like. You know, it's hard when you are raising kids to make time for yourself. One day, you wake up and you realize you haven't been to a movie in, oh, about three years. Well, a movie-made-for-adults-that-you-attend-with-your-girlfriends kind of movie. Madagascar 2 doesn't count.
So, you gather up a few friends who aren't too busy chasing after their own families on a Friday night, you dig out a pseudo-stylish outfit and head to the movies. You can't believe the tickets are now $9.75. Weren't they $7 the last time you attended a show that WASN'T the matinee?!?
And the popcorn?! Wow! You just spent $8 for a small popcorn and a small Sprite. But it was worth it. Because you didn't have to share with three people under the age of 8.
You laughed. You cried. You joked with your friends.
And to make the evening complete, you walked over to Starbucks.
That's where your boys and their friends were hanging out. Taking up all of the tables. Blocking the door, actually.
That's probably a good thing. Think of all the other places they could be! You were probably sitting at home relieved to know they were ONLY at Starbucks.
But really? Did they have to tell us we were old? Did they have to continue to remind us of our age when we couldn't find a seat and had to walk back out of the coffee shop and through their standing crowd?
They looked like good kids. But really. I think if you, one of my new friends, had heard them taunting us, you would have wanted to know.
I realize that I will be the mom of those kids someday. The ones in high school. The ones who need a safe place to hang out with their friends on Friday night.
And I've already warned mine.
"If you ever see a mom who is going to a movie with her mom friends and you tell her she looks old, you are grounded! For life."
Oh, and by the way... if your boys are a little older by then and my kids happen to tell them they look old, please call me. I want to know.
Love from your new best friend,
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Ah, good way to look at that experience. And thank goodness those kids weren't hanging around Cold Stone taking up all the seats and blocking the doors there too. Otherwise I might really have reacted like I was much, much closer to their age.
ReplyDeleteIt really did get me thinking about where I'll let my kids hang out at that age and all.
I think I would have grabbed one of those boys in a "nose hold" and said what my brother's used to say to me "I'm a little bit older and a little bit tougher!" One could probably get arrested doing that, but, I don't know, sometimes there are things worth getting arrested for.
ReplyDeleteYou probably should NEVER, EVER take any parenting advice from me. My kids interacted with a few friends of mine in July and I'm still getting reports of how well behaved and helpful they were. Oh, if only they were that way at home! But it makes me think that they are well behaved when mother is not hovering.
:)Lynn
How did I miss this?
ReplyDeleteI still think that next time IF I notice this sort of thing going on, I will offer to give them a ride home to make sure they aren't late for their curfew. :)